Raleigh Becket | R-RBEC_122.21-B (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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theshatterdome2015-06-01 07:45 am
unbreachable) wrote in theshatterdome2015-06-01 07:45 amEntry tags:
unbreachable) wrote in theshatterdome2015-06-01 07:45 am
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Well, hell. Who is he to begrudge? ]
What’s ‘divine’? I mean…I walk in there they’re gonna think I’m some kinf od kaiju Jesus anyway, coming back from the dead.
[ because let’s face it, the whole world pretty much thinks he died alongside his brother. That’s the official PPDC statement because what else do they say? Sorry, he’s not dead but he’s no longer human? He’s some sort of weirdo mutant that can see and smell better than any human, he’s freakishly strong and oh by the way, he’s also some kind of kaiju hulk?
Yeah, no. ]
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[ maybe it's a post-adrenaline thing that's got her feeling this way, like she could just laugh in the face of everything that's happened so far today and everything that's to come. or maybe, probably, it's her brain's way of not collapsing into itself with the weight of what today means for what her life is going to be like from now on.
she won't think about it, though. in the morning sunlight, she lets this weird, dissonant euphoria course through her as she gives Raleigh directions when they're needed, turn here or go straight. she's kind of surprised by how easy this part is. she'll take it. ]
'Kaijuu Jesus' doesn't have that great a ring to it, that's all. [ a pause, allowing herself this indulgence, trying to convince herself it's worth the trouble ] The 'Grand Blue Herald.'
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Sorta blasphemous too.
[ He's not a religious man, not really, but still. Feels weird. ]
The grand blue heard... [ he chuckles, fingers flexing on the wheel as he drives, occasionally checking behind them to see they aren't being followed. ]
That sounds like something out of a Doctor Seuss book.
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[ they're coming up on the church, she notices when they take the next turn. it's a fair guess that the PPDC won't think of this as part of the escape plan -- what plan, though, when there's only so far ahead you can think on this sort of thing? -- but still, better safe than sorry. ]
We're close. We should probably walk the rest of the way.
[ she'll nab some supplies from the back, where she left her bag after her last shift. it crosses her mind that they're at the mercy of luck now, but she doesn't let that scare her. no time to be afraid now. gotta keep going, gotta find a place to hide and regroup and figure this thing out. ]
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[ He snorts, but yeah -- she's right. They gotta ditch the van, preferably somewhere that won't link them to the church. Maybe a Walmart or something - let them assume they stopped for supplies, then continue on foot.
Or steal another car. Either way. ]
Grab whatever you think we need, miss priestess. Following your guidance right now.
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Before she climbs out of the back, she remembers something and doubles back to grab her buddy Joel's spare sunglasses.
Going back to the front of the van, she holds them up to Raleigh.]
Consider these your first offering.
[then, nodding up the road] It's not far from here. Ten, fifteen minutes on foot?
[They can't see it from here, but they'll spot it no problem once they're closer. Churches are good like that, kind of standing out from their surroundings.
She glances up at him as they walk.]
How are you doing, anyway?
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[ He's leaning against the side of the van as she works, keeping a watchful eye on the road they came from. He's not convinced they weren't followed but if they were, they at least haven't been spotted. They'd certainly left them in the dust, mercifully enough. ]
Ooh. Nice. Thanks.
[ nice set of shades. He could probably use a shave and some hair dye and definitely a haircut - but who's being picky? He pockets the keys so no one can steal the van, vowing to throw them into the first gutter he sees. ]
Eh..
[ he's not sure how he feels. Jittery, elated at the sunshine on his face. Nervous. Worried for this crazy girl who broke him out. Worried for himself, for his lack of control and handle on what's going on internally with him. ]
I'm alive. I can't complain.
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Alive, he says. That's how low the bar is set. Alive. It sends a chill through her, one she shouldn't be feeling, not in the bright sunlight, not with her jacket on.]
It'll get better. Once we're settled, we can... I don't know. Maybe one of the cultists can help.
['Help'. The word is everything, anything. And it's nothing, too, but she wants to give him hope, something to strive for that's more than just... alive.]
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[ Raleigh's gotten used to existing. He's really...really good at it. Eat to live, live to eat. Nothing really mattered, not after Knifehead, after Yancy. When you feel a piece of your soul die, it's hard to recover from. He's never really had a reason to, save for the simple fact that humans have an indomitable will to survive. ]
Yeah, maybe.
[ It's nice to think, anyway. He's sort of just happy to be alive. He's pretty sure he wouldn't be, if not for her.
Speaking of-- ]
Thanks, by the way. You really...shouldn't have helped me.
crappy tag D: sorry
[The dissection proposal had haunted her from the moment she'd first read it, fromthe language they used to refer to him to the thorough, clinical description of the lengthy process. The entire planet could be destroyed at any moment, and all they could think about was theories and hypotheses. They'd spoken in terms of figuring out the monsters' weaknesses, but it didn't make sense.
Maybe she's ultimately just an ignorant kid, but it doesn't matter now, does it.]
nooooo it's fine :3 mine is garbage dhjdjd my brain
[ he pulls in a deep breath and swallows, putting his hands in his pockets. ]
You didn't. But I'm really glad that you did.
[ Beyond glad. He doesn't know how to properly express his gratitude. He's not good at communication so much these days, but he's..getting there. Getting poked with a needle every day sort of does that to a person. ]
noo u r fine!
She sees the church from here -- a repurposed Methodist church, she guesses. Maybe Catholic. It doesn't matter.]
There it is. [a tiny gulp, a deep breath, and she looks up at him] Are you ready to be a god?
[Or die trying. She leaves that out, though. Death is at the edge of her awareness now, probably always will be, but this... game, for lack of a better word, is waking her up again, keeping her alert.
If there is a god, she hopes they don't mind.]
sob
I'm not sure anyone is really ready to be a god. Not even... [ He gestures vaguely upwards. ]
The big one. [ If there is one. Hell if he knows. ]
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Then everything comes back to her.]
I hadn't actually planned this far ahead, so... [shrugging] Just... follow my lead, I guess? Play off them? Definitely let them see your eyes.
[That's the only sure thing they have. If that fails-- well, she's not going to think about that right now.]
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Yes ma'am. You're the boss.
[ even after everything, after all the shit he's been through, he still manages to be cheeky. ]
We'll...see what happens. [ hold his breath, cross his fingers, avoid black cats. ]
my theatre major is showing i am so sorry D: orz
Cheeky is good. Whatever keeps him alert and willing to do whatever is needed to stay alive.
Dana went through a phase a few years ago where she read a lot about world religions. For whatever reason, she'd started to really miss her mother and her brother years after they'd died, so she'd tried to piece together a personal mythology of some sort that explained why any god would let creatures as vile as kaijuu start destroying the world. In the end, her efforts were fruitless, but she'd at least decided that there had to be something of an afterlife that wasn't either eternal sorrow or endless harp-playing. That was when she'd come across the Cult of Kaijuu and the the assorted Churches of the Breach popping up all along the West Coast. She'd dismissed them and their beliefs immediately, because anyone who preached that innocent people like her brother and her mother deserved to die at the hands of these "blue angels" was not worth her time.
And now, here she is, depending on them for survival. It was funny how that had worked out.
Nodding at Raleigh, she walks ahead of him into the church, which is empty save a couple of people in deacon robes, dusting off statues of kaijuu where there should be figures of Mary and the saints. Their version of holy water is tinted blue, like Raleigh's eyes. The sight of it gives her an idea.
If she's going to be a priestess, she's committing. Their lives depend on it.
Signaling for Raleigh to follow, Dana leads the way down the center of the church, heading for one of the robed men. "I need to speak with your priest," she says, her voice and posture filled with all the authority of a captain's daughter. "In private," she adds a moment later.
The deacon turns to her, frowning, blue feather duster resting at the feet of the kaijuu statue in front of him. He looks firt her, then Raleigh, then her up and down. "Come with me," he says, not bothering to hide the suspicion filling him to the brim.
She follow, motioning for Raleigh to do the same, and they soon find themselves in a small office at the back of the church, where a middle-aged man wearing a blue priest's collar looks at them with practiced patience.
"Will you keep this holy secret?" she asks, wishing she could roll her eyes and still keep up the act.
"I'm sorry?" asks the priest.
Forcing herself to keep a straight face, she looks at Raleigh with eyes full of adoration. "This is our savior," she says to the priest, "sent from among the blue angels in the guise of an ordinary man to usher in the new world. Show him," she adds to Raleigh, more softly, giving a smile she kind of feels like punching herself for. "Let him witness a fraction of your divinity."
Risking being struck dead immediately for blasphemy, she prays to any god who'll listen. Please let this work. Please let this work.
scream im so sorry this took so long
Raleigh follows after her dutifully, though he's tense about being in here. These wackjob kaiju worshippers and Rangers didn't exactly get along. Certain sects of the cult were known for attempting to attack pilots, kill them off -- what better way to allow the success of the blue angels, the enormous 'gods' have free reign over earth than to take down earth's defenders?
He had no respect for these people, zero. He was generally a tolerant person too, live and let live and all that, but when he'd heard of these incidents, all compassion vanished.
And now he, like Dana, is depending on them for survival.
He doesn't really want to show this freak what he can do, either - he's not proud of it, can't exactly control it, and it terrifies him. He's also not sure he can do it on command, but he supposed that his adrenaline pumping through his veins, the fear and rage coursing through his blood must be enough because when she tells him, he does it.
It's...not exactly pretty and something like out of a movie; bones cracking, rearranging, muscles bulging and skin tinging from pale right to deep blue scales that are almost iridescent, shimmering from blue to deep purple to dark green in the low light of the temple.
Heaving, he flexes what were once fingers and now claws into fists.
He's angry. Work quickly, Dana.
no oh my goodness it's okay i promise!!
The recordings could never have prepared her for this, the sheer magnitude of the change, the vivid color of this form, the lethal look to him once he's changed. Truth told, she'd hoped maybe one look at his eyes would be enough, but this—there is no way they will deny that he is extraordinary, after seeing this.
But now is not the time to feel victorious, not when she is almost as surprised as the priest, and not when Raleigh's breathing changes into something vicious, something frightening.
"He's—" starts the priest, taking a step back as he stares, awestruck at the transformation. "No one has ever imagined anyone like him!"
Forcing herself to at least appear calm, Dana nods. "I bring you a great gift."
One she cannot let kill them all.
Her eyes on Raleigh's, she approaches him, one slow step at a time. "They're satisfied." She takes a deep breath, hoping her voice stays steady in the face of—of Raleigh, she reminds herself. Raleigh Becket. Not a monster, not an aberration. "This wretch no longer doubts you. Unlike me." She makes a brief pause, willing Raleigh to look at her and remember all they've just been through, all the madness of this endless morning. "I've never doubted you. I've always known who you are. You're no monster, no matter what anyone else says."
Briefly, she thinks that whether or nor she survives this, at least she knows she's not going to get locked up somewhere. But Raleigh might survive and wind up right back where he started.
Which is why she remains rooted to the spot, eyes on his, hoping she'll trigger something, anything in him that will bring him back before he loses himself to this form and all its decidedly unholy power.
work kills me D:
Rage. It's all he can see, think, feel. The cultists and their colors, the red of their robes reflecting the fury in his veins. He can smell the fear, the awe in the man and Raleigh growls low and deep, a feral, primal noise that's rooted in the very base of his genetic code.
He could tear him apart, rip him into shreds - hell, he's probably responsible for some of the attacks on Rangers, right? Even if he's not, he's associated with them and that automatically puts him on Raleigh's bad side.
Raleigh. His name flickers in his head and he shivers, flexing his claws again as he swings an ice blue gaze to Dana, trembling in front of her as he visibly fights for control.
It takes longer than is comfortable, but slowly, scales fade to skin and he's left standing there naked in a pile of shredded clothing, shivering as cool air ghosts over sweat slick skin.
ditto actually -_- sobs quietly
"Get him clothes," she says to the priest, her voice sharp.
The priest's eyes are still wide with wonder, and all he does is take one step before he stares again, as if he can't believe what has transpired.
"Now," she snaps. "And don't tell anyone what you saw." Looking back at Raleigh, she shrugs off her jacket and throws it around his back. "They'll only want to kill him," she adds, her voice suddenly softer as she arranges the jacket. It's far too small on him, but it will keep the temperature contrast from affecting him enough to make him sick. They don't need any more complications.
"Yes," says the priest. "I mean, no, of course I won't." He murmurs something about protecting the blue angels as he rushes out the door.
Dana wants to sigh when he's gone, wants to let her whole body sag as the adrenaline rush recedes. She doesn't, though, and she won't until they're in the clear.
"I think we're good," she says to Raleigh, her voice low, afraid of being overheard by even the walls. "I'm sorry about that. I couldn't think of any other way to do this. Are you—okay?" Her training didn't exactly prepare her for this kind of thing.
i hate being a grandma like a lot (sorry this is short sdfkljh)
"...Yeah. I'm fine."
He is so fucking far from fine it's comical, but he's been telling people he's 'fine' since his mother died.
embrace the granny-ness...maybe! (shh no it's perf)
Except they aren't mythical beings. They're human, and they need food and water and rest. She doesn't know how much the change took out of him, but she knows what exhaustion looks like, which is decidedly not 'fine.'
"You should sit."
Where isn't a problem, since there are a few chairs available. It's just... hygiene that concerns her. There's a spare set of robes hanging behind the door, which she reaches for with one hand because she's not going to let her jacket fall off him. It probably looks like she's doing some sort of weird dance, but she manages, somehow, to drape the robes over a chair. She then puts pressure on his shoulders, guiding him towards it, willing the priest to come back with something suitable. She's thinking, taking care of Raleigh's very human survival needs will have to be something they work into their whole charade. She's thinking, maybe this won't last forever, but making these people think their church was chosen will give them ample time to recover and develop a sustainable plan.
She's thinking, being a fake priestess is hard, but one does what one must to survive.
but but but
"...This is crazy." He finally speaks up, lifting his head to give her a dull look. "I mean, my party trick is only gonna get us so far."
apologizes profusely for this heaping pile of garbage
if i rushed or assumed too much u lemme kno okay D: ugh im sorry)She will never know the depth of his pain, but to the extent that she can see he's not well, to the extent that they're in this together now, she's going to do the best that she can for him. It may be imperfect, but her heart is in the right place.
"I'm pretty sure we've got that guy convinced, so I don't think you'll need to do that again." She leaves out 'for a while' because she never wants to ask him to do that again. It's left him shaken, to say the least. "I'll take care of it. Of-- this." She waves a hand around, indicating the little office, the entire church building. This whole mess, if she can, and she is willing to try til her dying breath.
This is about the time they would have gone to get him from his cage, she realizes as she glances at the clock. She lets out a heavy sigh, and of course that's when the priest decides to come back.
She composes herself with an inhalation and turns to face him, letting him babble on for a bit about the bag of clothes he brought with him -- donations from the congregation, because sure, they're here to praise their beloved blue angels, but they still want to make sure survivors are fed and clothed.
All of which works for her and Raleigh.
She tells the priest, this is a new movement, and his church is one of a handful scattered along the edges of the Ring of Fire to be chosen to house a divine being such as Raleigh. She explains, no one will understand, and even the congregation may be frightened, so he must keep this all a secret and give them shelter while they await divine inspiration with their next instructions. She tells him, she has no intention of taking over his church, because her sole purpose in life is to serve this gift of the blue angels to their city. She does not give him any names, only vague titles that he laps up greedily. Yes, yes, he will give them what she asks for, he is honored beyond words to receive this gift, and he will protect them with his very life if he must.
She's not sure how long that will be the case for, but it's bought them some time, at least. Some form of reprieve.
He leaves them with the bag of clothes, telling them he'll wait for them just outside his office. When they're ready, he'll lead them upstairs, to the quarters they'd had built in here to house the needy when they'd been a Catholic church.
"Oh, thank god," breathes Dana when the door shuts. She ignores the irony of her words. "Almost there."
shh, shh not garbage. i am so sorry for my delay raleigh brain fucked off for a while
Raleigh isn't sure he will ever be 'well' again, but if he can just..survive this. Get by. Then maybe there's a shred of hope.
Or maybe he's just clinging to a pipe dream and he's going to be dead by morning. He doesn't know anymore. He feels like a caged animal rattling his bars, moving from one prison to another. It makes him anxious, makes his stomach turn over in his abdomen.
But the priest doesn't come back with a lynch mob, just clothing, and Raleigh listens to Dana and the priest and offers very little in way of input, choosing instead to withdraw in on himself and stay quiet, observing as opposed to talking.
He nods when he should, stands tall and strong and slightly intimidating (not that his previous display wasn't terrifying, but just in case) when he should.
When they're finally alone, Raleigh flops face first onto the bed with a soft moan, uncomfortable in clothing that isn't his.
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loserwinner with no life that's all that's why im here like all the time, u r a-ok~~~~~]When was the last time he'd slept in a bed? The doctors and scientists had thought so little of him that they'd not even given him a cot, just treated him like an animal who could curl in on himself for warmth and comfort. Even though this is far from perfect, the sight of him like that, not really relaxing but definitely not as tense as this morning has been, makes her smile.
After dropping her bag at the foot of the bed, she hauls herself up onto the set of drawers against one wall in the small room, letting her posture sag as she sighs heavily. She could pass out right now, but if either of them is going to sleep right now, it should be him. He's had it worse for longer. Moreover, she's smaller, so she can grab a spare set of blankets and sprawl out on the floor if she really can't stay awake.
It's only now, in the silence, in the way she feels like the world has stopped for just a second since spinning at hyperspeed all morning, that this becomes real. She's on the run with a man who's liable to get shot if he's found. She's not far from home here, isn't even in another city, but for all intents and purposes, she's worlds away from all that is familiar and comfortable. She won't have lunch with her teammates, she won't see her roommate in the hall, she won't go help with rescues in their fire district. They're searching for her, so she shouldn't even leave this room, let alone this building.
She's trapped, and even though she doesn't regret this entire morning for even an instant, restlessness races across her skin like static. She's glad she's not claustrophobic, because it's bad enough to feel her heart start to race again just over a thought. Drawing up and wrapping her arms around her legs, she rests her head against her knees and takes slow, deliberate breaths.
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He stays like that for a while - long enough for Dana to stop moving around and fall silent herself. He's being selfish, he knows - this has been a hell of a strain for the both of them and it's not just him that it affects. In the still and quiet space of the room, the silence is deafening.
Slowly but surely, Raleigh lifts his head and slides to the edge of the bed and gingerly reaches to pet her hair, dark circles from exhaustion staining the skin under his eyes.
He won't be able to sleep, though. Not until he collapses. He can't. He'll dream.
"Thanks," he says softly, feeling like it's something that needs to be repeated, and often. "You could go, you know. They think I kidnapped you. You wouldn't be blamed."
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She doesn't jump at the touch, forgetting, for just a moment, that he isn't one of her friends from school or PPDC. Even when she does remember, she isn't really startled. Physical contact is part of her job, and disaster victims who are too shocked to speak have expressed their gratitude like this, with a hand on her shoulder, or even a hug when she's pulled someone from the brink of death. This is, in its own way, like that, she feels, though its scope is so vast that she can't yet fathom it.
"I can't go back," she tells him, straightening. Even if she could be cold enough to leave him to fend for himself, she's involved herself too much in this to be able to extricate herself without harming him in the process. "They'll just try to get me to tell them where you are. And if I leave, the priest will get suspicious." The story they made up on the fly is too good, it turns out.
But beyond that, now she feels responsible for him. If anything were to happen to him, she'll have failed at her life's calling. Not every life can be saved, she knows that, but when you start with someone who's perfectly healthy -- Kaijuu Blue notwithstanding -- it's a lot harder to forgive yourself if they die on your watch.
She meets his gaze and gives him a tired smile. "Get some sleep. You look like you could use it."
This is short and terrible
It doesn't make him feel any better.
"I won't be able to," he tells her, dropping his hands and getting up to wander the room, touching this or that, not looking at her. "I dream to much. I don't remember the last time I slept. Take the bed. One of us might as well use it."
quality > quantity, delivered received adored
Even so, his offer is tempting. She'd cut her night short to get him out, and now that the adrenaline has drained away, she's likely to fall asleep the second her head hits the pillow.
<33
He smiles faintly, and lifts his shoulders in a shrug.
"I will. Later maybe."
For now - she can sleep. He will bodily pick her up and toss her on it if he must.
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But something in his gaze says he means his offer from before, so she slides off the dresser and goes to the bed. She almost wants to hug him before she does so, but she's not sure if they're at that point, if they ever could be. She hugs people a lot, really, but those are friends or teammates, people she's known for a while. Instead, she settles for touching his arm before she climbs into bed.
It's not the best, but she's slept in worse. A few seconds of shifting around get her as comfortable as she'll be here, and then she lets herself go, exhaustion pulling her under in as little as a minute.
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As opposed to hugging giant blue rage monsters, someone who isn't quite human anymore and doesn't understand what he is, himself. While she sleeps he has the opportunity to think about it more - it's all he does these days. Left in a cage most of the time to his own devices, he had plenty of time to think about everything that had happened, to sink further into a depression.
But a hug wouldn't be unwelcome. Not that she can hear his thoughts nor he hers, but still.
Physical contact has been in short supply, unless you counted endless examinations and blood drawing and poking and pricking and all of the above.
Maybe eventually he can doze off. Later, when he doesn't hear anyone in the hall and when her breathing evens out, heart rate slowing. Maybe then he'll feel safe enough (safe being a relative word) to fall asleep.
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She's out quick, but she doesn't dream, exactly. It's more the feeling of steady calm, like the beach on a windless day.
It doesn't last very long, thirty minutes at most, but it's enough that she feels rested when she wakes again, to early afternoon sunlight. Unlike him, she's not used to having time to just think. Mostly she used to work, and train, and study. These last few weeks, her spare time had been spent planning this, and now--
Now she's got all the time in the world, or at least as long as it takes these people to realize they're housing two people who are essentially fugitives.
That, in the end, is what she thinks about. How she won't let them take him back. How she might end up locked up if they get caught despite their best efforts to stay hidden. How she misses her old world but wouldn't go back to it if given the chance to redo today, because she couldn't live with the knowledge that they'd just cut into a person without consent for science. All the things that had come to her as they'd fled, now occupy her mind, and it's... strange, to be on the other side of it now. To realize with crystalline certainty that he's the only person she's got right now who she doesn't have to pretend anything for.
With a sigh, she rolls onto her back and stares up at the ceiling.
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They both need more rest than they're currently getting. Raleigh's flopped on the floor in a pile of bedding, dozing lightly. The minute she stirs his eyes open, shifting a little. By now it's late afternoon and crawling into evening - resting now, while they're in private is smart.
However.
"Trouble sleeping?"
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She sits up quickly, scooting to the edge of the bed to make space for him.
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"I've been sleeping on the floor for weeks. Months." He sounds confused - he's lost track of time. He doesn't even know what day it is.
"Just-- scoot over. We'll share it."
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"No more sleeping on the floor for you. Not on my watch."